Glynn: I’m a mom, I struggled with infertility, I’m voting for Kamala Harris

Ever since I could remember, I’ve always wanted to be a mom. But because I struggled with infertility, the road to motherhood was incredibly difficult. My husband and I looked into every option to help us start a family, even when our health insurance refused to cover infertility treatments. After years of struggling and a miscarriage, we finally welcomed our first and then our second child into the world.

I never considered that my experience becoming a mom could feel so politicized. But now, as Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance continue to diminish those who are struggling with infertility, it feels like my struggle, and the struggles of so many women, are being attacked. It’s sickening.

As an advocate for the infertility community and an Arizona mother, I have heard countless stories from local moms who have also faced difficult decisions regarding their fertility journey and pregnancies. These decisions are deeply personal and should be made by women in consultation with their doctors, not dictated by politicians.

While Vance, Trump’s VP pick, was in Arizona campaigning, he falsely claimed that the Republican Party is the only pro-family party. I can firmly say that is a lie and that Vance and Trump’s anti-reproductive freedom agenda is a direct threat to the health and well-being of women and families in Arizona.

Vance has made it clear that he supports banning abortion nationwide. Vance said in 2022 that he “certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally,” and that a national ban would be necessary to prevent women from traveling to access the care they need. He has said he wanted to protect life “from the date of conception,” and accordingly voted against legislation to protect access to IVF.

This is abhorrent, but it’s unsurprising when we look at who picked him as running mate. Trump bragged that he is “proudly the person responsible” for overturning Roe v. Wade, which has unleashed cruel abortion bans across the country including here in Arizona. The thought that politicians like Trump and Vance could impose laws that might limit access to fertility treatments or complicate them further is terrifying. It scares me and it should scare every person who wants to decide how, if, and when they have a family.

There’s only one ticket that can stop Trump and Vance — and that’s Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz. Vice President Harris supports and protects reproductive freedom and wants to go further to support moms and families. In her very first speech to her campaign staff, Vice President Harris emphasized that she believes in a future “where every person has access to paid family leave and affordable child care.” Her choice of Gov. Walz as her running mate solidifies her support for policies that support families — he and his wife went through fertility treatment to have their daughter Hope and he recently signed a bill delivering paid family and medical leave for everyone in his state.

Beyond abortion, Vance’s dismissal of the positive impacts of paid family leave is another example of his disregard for the needs of families. As a working mom, I know how crucial paid family leave is for the well-being of both parents and children. When my children were born, while my company offered some paid leave, my husband had zero weeks. The lack of fully paid family leave forced us to make tough choices. No parent should bear a financial burden without adequate pay and have to choose between caring for their newborn and financial stability.

Vance doesn’t understand the real challenges that families like mine face. It’s clear that he prioritizes his extreme ideology over the well-being of parents and their children.

In Arizona, we value family and community. We support moms. We believe women have autonomy over their reproductive health care. We understand that policies like paid leave that support families are not just good for individual families but for our society as a whole. As we approach November, I urge other Arizona families to reject Donald Trump and JD Vance. We need leaders who understand the importance of supporting families, not those who seek to impose their extreme views on us.